Slush pump valve cover



Oct. 3l, 1950 l A. R. MAIER ET AL 2,527,949

sLUsH PUMP VALVE covER Oct. 31, 1950 sLUsH PUMP VALVE COVER Filed April 25, 194e 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 A. R. MAIER ETAL 2,527,949

Patented Oct. 31, l1950 UNITED fs`rrri3s`A OFFICE i ,2,52*,949 Y SLUSHPUMP VALVE covER l August R. Maier and CharlesL'. Mohnkern,g0il

City, Pa., assignors tugil kWell Supply pany, a corporation of Neva-Jersey Com-v I Application April 23, 19m-srieuse. 664,249

and their seats in separate valve chambers 's6' that they are readily accessible due to the necessity of replacing both valves and seats frequently. The valves and seats are inserted into the pump chamber in each case through an opening which is closed by a valve cover held in place by -a large number of heat treated studs. These studs must carry the full pump pressure exerted against the valve cover over the entire area enclosed by the valve cap gasket. This means, for example, that with an 8 diameter opening and gasket, the valve cap and studs must carry a total load of approximately 150,000 lbs. when the pump is operating against 3000 lbs/sq. in. pressure.

k1 claim." (c1. asii276 Practically all conventional oil field slushpumps are double-acting pumps of the duplex or triplex type, requiring a total of eight or twelve valves and valve covers. Whenever valve leakage develops, it is frequently necessary to remove all of the valve caps in order to determine which valve is leaking and to make replacement of the faulty valve in order to maintain satisfactory pump performance.

A pump equipped with twelve valves, using eight studs for each valve cover, has a total of 96 studs and nuts. To remove all of the nuts and caps to examine the valves requires considerable time and is a very expensive procedure in view of the long shutdowns of the drilling rig.

In addition to the inconvenience and the expensive shutdown time incurred in removing" parent from the following specification when read. inA conjunction with the attached drawings,

wherein: f v

Figure l is a top "view of the valve. cover along vthe line I--I of Figure 2y and showing in dottedy lines the ring member turned 90 for removal;`

lFigure 2 is a cross section on line II-II of.

Figure 1 and showing in dotted lines the manner of positioning the ring member; and."v

Figure 3 is a partial section illustrating the insertion of the sealing ring.

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

the numeral 2 designates a slush pump valve housing having a valve seat d and valve `6 with an upstanding stud 8 disposed thereon. .The valve seat and valve are adapted to be placed in position'.v

through an aperture I0 in the housing 2.

In accordance with the teachings of our invention, the aperture l0 is slightly oval in shape for the insertion of a portion of the cover as is more fully described hereinafter.

Centrally disposed in the oval aperture I0 is an inner support member I2 having a sleeve |'4 and bore I6 at the lower side thereof forming a guideway for the stud 8 of fthe valve 6 and an upstanding stud I8 which extends above'the casing 2 and is screwthreaded at the outer end thereof. The outer periphery of the member I2 is machined to provide a seat 20 for a sealing ring 22.

Disposed around the member I2 is a dished ring member 24, which has its lower inner edge machined to provide a recess 26, which lies above the seat 20 so as to engager the` upper side of the sealing ring 22.A The upper outer edge of the ring 24 is also machined to provide an annular oval-shaped seat 30 for a sealing ring 32. The inside edge of the aperture is machined to provide an annular recess 34 so as to cooperate with, or receive in sealing engagement, the ring 32. As shown at 36, in Figure 2, the recess 34 is cut back somewhat farther at the edge portion of the long diameter of the oval to provide room to position the ring member, as shown by the dotted lines of Figure 3. In the case of both sealing rings 22 and 32, an annular space 38 is provided therearound to permit access of the interior pressure of the valve chamber to thev edge of the rings.

Disposed over the aperture l0 and surrounding the stud is a yoke or cover member 40. The inner members are held in position by a nut 42 on stud I8 which engages the yoke 40.

With the yoke and cover members removed for the insertion of a new valve seat or valve,

the members are positioned in the following manner. The inner member 22 is entered through the aperture I'U and the sleeve i4 slid over the stud 8. The oval-dished ring member 24 is then disposed around the stud I9, turned so that the major axis thereof is at right angle to the major axis of the oval aperture and then by tilting the samel is dropped through the aperture. It is then turned 90 so that its major axis and the major axis of the aperture are in coincidence. The yoke 40 is then placed over the aperture With the stud I8 extending therethrough. The nut 42 is then turned onto the stud to pull the inner member and sealing ring upwardly to bring the respective sealing surfaces into tight engagement with the sealing rings. When pressure isadmitted to the valve chamber, it will be noted that such pressure is not transmitted to the stud holding the parts in position but instead acts to more tightly seal such members. .A

"`While We have shown and described one speciic embodiment of our invention, it Will be understood that this embodiment is merely for the purpose of illustration and description and that various other forms may be devised within the scope of our invention, as dened in the appended claim.

We claim:

In combination a valve chamber having an oval opening in the chamber housing, a valve in the chamber beneath said opening, an upstanding stud on said valve and a readily removable cover for said opening comprising a removable support member in said chamber, said member having a sealing member on its upper side adjacent its outer edge, a ring member having an annular surface on its underside adapted to engage said sealing member, a second sealing member on the upper side of said ring member adapted to engage the underside of the housing around said oval opening, guide means on the underside of said support member adapted to receive the stud on said valve member to hold said support member while said cover is being positioned and to guide said valve when it is operated and means for holding said support member to keep said sealing members tightly engaged.

AUGUST R. MAIER. CHARLES L. MOHNKERN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 110,647 Graham Jan. 3, 1871 '365,656 Warren June 28, 1887 724,939 Reis Apr. "I, 1903 1,336,012 Woods Apr. 6, 1920 1,818,439 Travis Aug. 11, 1931 1,936,236 Hill Nov, 21, 1933 2,116,170 Hall May 3, 1938 2,278,881 Jacocks Apr. 7, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS i' Number Country Date 7,716 Great Britain of 1901 278,794 Great Britain Oct. 10, 192.7 476,035 Germany Feb. 18, 1927 485,970 Germany Nov. 13, 1929 

